Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.2.4: Fix for Hermstedt WebShuttle DSL; DVD-R drive recognition workarounds; Constant clock resetting
Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.2.4: Fix for Hermstedt WebShuttle DSL; DVD-R drive recognition workarounds; Constant clock resetting
Fix for Hermstedt WebShuttle DSL We first reported on a problem affecting Hermstedt WebShuttle DSL under Mac OS X 10.2.4 last week. Hermstedt has now released updated drivers that allow the modem to work properly under the new OS X release.
The WebShuttle page states that the "new drivers are necessary for using WebShuttle DSL Annex A under Mac OS 10.2.4 (the adaptation of the PPP handling has been made necessary because of the changes in Mac OS 10.2.4).
Looking at the console log If you are having problems applying the Mac OS X 10.2.4 update - either through Software Update or a standalone installer - try looking at the console log (open "Console" located in the Applications/Utilities folder by default) to see if the installer tripped over a corrupt preference file.
Apparently, the 10.2.4 installer is very sensitive to corrupted preference files. Joseph Merola writes in with a case example echoed by other readers:
"In my case, I looked at the console log to see a heading that said: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
"I don't have the exact log anymore, but for me it pointed to various skin plist files for Whamb. (an audio player that I downloaded, tried once, then trashed.) When I trashed the Whamb folder in Application Support, the installer worked just fine."
ATA drive recognition workarounds On Friday we reported an ATA device recognition problem in Mac OS X 10.2.4 that was causing users to lose the functionality of their internal devices, particularly add-on DVD-R drives.
Michael Bonney suggests switching the drive jumpers, altering the master/salve configuration:
"I'm running a Power Mac G4 867 MHz dual processor, standard CD-R/DVD combo drive, with an additional internal Pioneer A104. As mentioned on MacFixIt, I cannot see the second drive cannot be seen after updating to Mac OS X 10.2.4.
"The easiest solution I have found is to swap the drive jumpers, putting the A104 onto the master and combo drive into slave mode and not using cable select. It no functions perfectly/ Apple System Profiler sees the drives, menu icons open and close as do the 'eject' and 'alt-eject' keys."
In Bonney's case, the jumper settings are as follows: upper and lower far right hand pins jumped on the A104; and upper and lower 2nd from right pins jumped on the combo drive.
Constant clock resetting We've received a number of corroborating reports complaining that after updating to Mac OS X 10.2.4, the system constantly resets itself to the date "Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 EST 1969" after being restarted.
So far, the only viable workaround we have been able to confirm in-house is to turn "Use a network time server" on in the Date and Time pane of System Preferences. Of course, this does not resolve the issue for Macs not connected to the Internet.
Fix for resolution settings Many users report an inability to access some resolution settings after applying the Mac OS X 10.2.4 update. Luke Latham's report regarding his iBook is typical:
'I normally use my iBook at 1024 x 768 [75 MHz mode]. I upgraded from Mac OS X 10.2.3 to 10.2.4 with the Combo updater. The resolution was reset to 800x600. All attempts to reset it back to 1024x768 failed using the Displays system preference pane. Whenever I clicked on the 1024 resolution, there would be a flash across the screen as though it were changing resolutions, and the preference pane would show a checkmark at that resolution, but it would still be 800x600. I attempted to trash the display .plist file, but that didn't work.'
The small utility SwitchRes will allow users to access broken resolutions under some circumstances, but apparently only when using the SwitchRes add-on menubar. Attempting to make changes in the SwitchRes pane in System Preferences will not work.
Dial-up modem drops, fixes Dial-up modem failure is a recurring problem after updating to Mac OS X 10.2.4, with most readers noting that while they are able to dial in, and successfully connect to their ISP, the connection drops after a matter of seconds.
Some readers have worked around the issue by using an old backup modem script. These can be obtained from a system that hasn't yet been updated to Mac OS X 10.2.4, or sometimes from the modem manufacturers' Web site.
Other readers are having some success by simply unchecking the box for 'enable error correction and compression in modem' in the Network Preference Pane (Modem tab in the Internal Modem view).
Margin Note: Apple is fixing bugs Looking through the daily troubleshooting reports on MacFixIt, it is easy to assume from the outside that Apple is causing more problems than are solved with its incremental (10.2.2, 10.2.3, 10.2.4) Mac OS X updates. This is the not the case.
For every system catastrophe (complete failure, no booting) report we receive for Mac OS X 10.2.4, and each upgrade before it, another reader writes that major issues under Mac OS X 10.2.3 are finally gone. And most readers indicate a genuine boost in some aspect of performance with each release.
So in other words, do not presume that Apple is releasing incomplete, untested updates. The sheer breadth of Macintosh system models, third party device configurations, and individual user software profiles make it impossible to release an upgrade that is problem-free under every circumstance.
Rather than an indication of poor update coding on Apple's part, the multitude of bug reports regarding the latest updates of Mac OS X can be interpreted as a spread of Mac OS X's infiltration into every crevice of the Mac world. The more scenarios Mac OS X is used in, the more problems will arise, and subsequently be resolved.
Friday's Mac OS X 10.2.4 report
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